McGowan – who fled the murder scene to go back to his home in Australia
McGowan, who was extradited to stand trial in Scotland from his home in Adelaide, was also convicted of head butting a cousin of Mr Brannigan’s at a Coatbridge social club.

The attack on Thomas Duggan came just a few hours before he inflicted 11 stab wounds on Mr Brannigan, who was once married to McGowan’s sister Carol.

Judge Lady Scott deferred sentence on McGowan for the court to obtain reports about his character.

But she warned him that he’ll be spending the rest of his life behind bars.

She told McGowan: “The law states that there is only one sentence which I can impose in a case with this charge – that is life.

“However, I must also fix a punishment part to your sentence – the punishment part is the sentence you must serve before you become eligible for parole.

“I will therefore defer sentence and you will be brought before me again at a hearing next month.”

Ryan in Hearts days
McGowan then repeatedly stabbed Mr Brannigan and fled. Hours later, McGowan turned up at the offices of British Airways in Gordon Street, Glasgow,.

The court heard that McGowan turned up five minutes after the store opened. At 9.05am he told travel consultant John Slack that he needed to change his December 10, 1999 return flight to the “next available flight”.

He left Heathrow on December 3, 1999 and flew to Perth, Western Australia – a total of 1,699 miles from his home in Adelaide.

Police in Scotland immediately identified McGowan as the number one suspect in the case. They contacted the Australian authorities in a bid to bring him back to Scotland.

However, Scottish prosecutors decided there wasn’t enough evidence to bring him to court. Scottish detectives travelled to McGowan’s home in Australia in March 2001.

However, he declined to be interviewed and Scottish police were unable to do anything further.

The breakthrough in the case came in 2012 when McGowan’s marriage fell apart.

He telephoned On the Line – a mental health charity – and confessed what he had done in Scotland.

Telling counsellors that his sons Ryan and Dylan were playing professional football in Scotland, McGowan also confessed that he was a murderer.

Jurors heard him say: “Once you’ve crossed the line and you jump back.. you know you can always go across the line.

“Some people can’t go across it and I know I went and done it and it’s a frightening thing – a frightening thing to do with.

“You go ‘Jesus, I can’t kill people’. But I did.”

Australian police learned about the phone calls and contacted Scottish police. He was arrested and extradited to Scotland.

During a week long trial, McGowan denied all wrong doing. He blamed Mr Stewart and said he was the man who murdered Owen Brannigan.

Prosecutors couldn’t find any evidence to link Mr Stewart to the crimes.